Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

Words: 1195

Pages: 5

Open Document

After the shuttle Challenger had exploded on the launch pad in 1986 a private investigation team had been set up by NASA to investigate such disasters. As the recovery of debris took place the team set out to give answers as to what had caused the break-up of the Columbia. From the very beginning the team looked into the foam that had hit the wing on launch day as other materials such as ice had been known to damage other shuttles before this incident. At this point in the investigation NASA stated that the cause of the foam breaking off was because workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility had not properly installed the foam, which was in fact found later to not be true. The flight data recorder from the Columbia was found in Texas and the data from it allowed the investigation team to link data from the shuttle with forensic debris analysis to give a possible course of events that lead to the disaster. Many different test were then carried out to simulate the events that happened, including firing foam at a replica wing. …show more content…
The report concluded the cause of the disaster was the foam striking the wing on launch day. The report also highlighted some major problems that occurred at NASA before the event, it said NASA had bad decision making and risk assessment processes. The report stated that NASA risked safety in order to save money and time after engineers had requested further tests before launch but these requests were denied. The investigation also looked into risk assessment at NASA before the event, which showed that higher up members of NASA came to the conclusion that nothing could be done even if damages had occurred to a shuttle. Director of Mission Operations John Harpol was reported to

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Summary

Ron Luckenbihl MPM210-1601-03 January 29, 2016 Review of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster in regards to Project Management. The Challenger program was plagued with issues that began several years before the disaster happened. A majority of the problems were due to the management style that NASA used. According to Max Weber’s theory of Bureaucracy , NASA had a narcissistic management style. The upper management was more interested in the public image of the company. Ever since the first…

Words 563 - Pages 3

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Analysis

participated in, the prestige garnered was immense. The authors give an example of India. If India were to ask to join, and were accepted into a joint U.S. space program, it would send a signal to every other nation that the US and India are on good, solid diplomatic terms. It would also allow India to claim a certain level of prestige for…

Words 1899 - Pages 8

The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Essay examples

RISK CASE STUDY – ASSIGNEMENT 2 August 3, 20111 THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER Risk Management Plan 1. Risk management plan summarizes risk management approach, list methodologies and processes, defines everyone’s role – definition of risk management plan. NASA was using for the most part qualitative risk assessment process. Launch of the shuttle was allowed as long as aggregate risk remained acceptable. Quantitive method was applied for risk assessment because if the complex…

Words 2672 - Pages 11

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster and Twenty-fifth Shuttle Flight Essay

Astronomy Challenger Disaster It was on January 28, 1986 when the shuttle Challenger, NASA flight 51-L, the twenty-fifth shuttle flight, took off. At lift-off, the temperature at ground level was 36° Fahrenheit, which was 15° Fahrenheit cooler than any previous launch by NASA. It was the Challenger's tenth flight. Take-off had been delayed several times. Finally the shuttle had taken off. The shuttle had climbed high in the sky thirty-five seconds after take-off, and it was getting hit…

Words 340 - Pages 2

Challenger Explosion Essay

80’s paved the path for one of NASA’s greatest accomplishments, the Space Shuttle program. The Space Shuttle fleet was comprised of orbiters Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavor, which completed many missions that contributed to our knowledge of space and science. Unfortunately, the events of the Challenger Explosion in 1986 now serve as a grim reminder of why communication and precision is vital in the world of space exploration. It was an unusually cold morning on January 28, 1986…

Words 745 - Pages 3

Case Study: The Challenger Disaster

Most Americans acknowledge the fact that the Challenger disaster was reasonably one of the most important events in terms of its meaning on the United States of America space and aeronautic program, but also in the whole history of space flight. It was on the freezing cold morning tide of Jan 28th, in the year of 1986, when 7 cosmonauts aboard Challenger lost their lives live in front of millions of TV spectators. The shuttle tore up just a minute and 13 seconds after taking off, consuming more…

Words 777 - Pages 4

Challenger Space Shuttle Research Paper

On January 28, 1986, the American shuttle orbiter Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff and brought a devastating end to the spacecraft’s 10th mission. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard. NASA had initially wanted to put man on the moon through the Apollo program. However, as Apollo was nearing completion, the cost of the Vietnam War was rising. As an alternative to the expensive Apollo program, the Space Shuttle program was proposed. On January 5, 1972, President…

Words 920 - Pages 4

Essay on The Tragic Challenger Explosion

The Tragic Challenger Explosion The Tragic Challenger Explosion Space Travel. It is a sense of national pride for many Americans. If you ask anyone who was alive at the time, they could probably tell you exactly where they were when they heard that Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon. But all of the success in our space programs is overshadowed by tragedy. On January 28, 1986, one of the worst disasters in our space program's history occurred. Many people were watching…

Words 3033 - Pages 13

1986 Challenger Shuttle Failure

The 1986 Challenger tragedy shook the nation to its core as a malfunction in the o-rings caused a seal breach in one of the connecting joints of the right rocket booster, creating the perfect environment for disaster. The ruptured liquid hydrogen and oxygen tanks combined with the jet fuel that had been ignited during the launch resulted in an explosion that took place just 73 seconds after liftoff. The o-ring failure ultimately caused the deaths of seven astronauts, halting the space program’s shuttle…

Words 644 - Pages 3

Case study apollo 13 Essay

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:38 EST (16:38 UTC). Disintegration of the vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed…

Words 2029 - Pages 9